The present invention relates generally to a wheelchair alarm system, and more particularly to a system and method for preventing falls from wheelchairs by predicting patient risk.
Patient falls are one of the biggest factors increasing hospital mortality rates. According to a recent article in Nursing Research, “Falls are the leading cause of injuries among adults aged 65 and older. Twenty to thirty percent of those who fall will require medical attention. The direct medical cost of falls is estimated at $6-8 billion per year in the United States.” Furthermore, Medicare reforms mean that soon hospitals will not be reimbursed for fall-related injuries. Thus this is the ideal time to bring improved chair alarm technology to the market as hospitals will be seeking more effective fall prevention strategies in the near future.
Fall prevention technology also has the potential to impact patients in their homes. In an article titled Aging Well with Smart Technology from the publication Nursing Administration Quarterly, researchers say, “We have seen evidence of elderly remaining in their homes longer with increased levels of independence. Postponement of admission into a long-term care facility by remaining independent and healthy could show promise of decreased institutionalization with costly care and constant supervision. Using smart home applications utilizing monitors and alerts for subtle health changes could change the focus of healthcare toward wellness not illness, along with providing better coordination of care.”
Elderly patients are not the only ones subject to fall. Even an athletic young person disconcerted by being on an IV is at very high risk of falling. In fact, nurses must fill out fall risk assessment forms many times a day that assess a patient's current risk of falling based on a variety of factors. In the commonly used Morse Fall Scale, these factors include; history of falling, secondary diagnosis, ambulatory aid, intravenous therapy, gait analysis and mental status.
Prior art chair alarms are generally adaptations of bed alarms. Typically, chair alarm systems are binary weight-based systems that have a delayed response to prevent their high susceptibility to false triggering. An example of a typical bed alarm system is the 1989 patent ‘Hospital bed for weighing patients’ (#4934468) filed by Clement J. Koerber, Sr., which uses load cells to measure patient weight and activates an alarm when the measured weight decreases below a certain threshold. However, increased movement levels lead to false triggering, thus Koerber incorporates a 4-5 second delay on the alarm's triggering that alerts staff too late.
Binary weight-based systems Furthermore, the alarms of chair alarms often go unnoticed and are not integrated into nurse call system.